B.O.B
One of my favourite blow up stories of the 2010 has to be B.O.B and his airplane to the top of the music industry. In just one year he went from the underdog to the superstar, scooping 5 Grammy nominations and numerous top ten singles.
B.O.B who’s name was derived from the Outkast track “Bombs over Baghdad” was born Bobby Ray Simmons and is the son of a pastor. His love for music began at an early age and was evident in his participation in his school’s band where he played the trumpet. He dropped out of school in the 6th grade to pursue his hopes of a music career, his family initially disapproved of his choice till they realised that Bob was using making music as sort of therapy for himself. After this realisation they then became supportive even going on to purchase him his first keyboard and some music equipment to make beats on.
B.O.B’s music career started taking off in early 2007, after a single titled “Haters everywhere” featuring Wes Fif gained popularity peaking at no.5 on the U.S Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. A remix version of the track was even featured on the video game Fight Night Round 4. The following year in 2008 he released another single titled “In The Sky” which was a lead up to his debut album. That same year he was also featured on T.I’s album “Paper Trail” on the track “On Top of the World” and also appeared on the cover of XXL magazine along with Wale, Asher Roth and Kid Cudi as the “Hip Hop Class of ‘09”.
Besides being a rapper B.O.B is also a producer and is part of a production company called Hamsquad along with 3 other members.
His debut album “B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray” was due for release on the 25 May 2010, but due to the unexpected success of the album’s lead single “Nothin’ On You” featuring Bruno Mars the album was then pushed up to the 27th April 2010. B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray features artists like Eminem, Lupe Fiasco, Janelle Monae and Hayley Williams from Paramore, to mention a few. The album was released under T.I’s record label Grand Hustle and in its first week sold 84 000 copies debuting at no.1 on the Billboard 200. It has also gone on to have 4 top ten singles including “Airplanes” featuring Hayley Williams and “Magic” which also landed on the Adidas commercial starring B.O.B.
The album has earned more than 20 nominations including 5 Grammy nominations and one Best Song award at the Soul Train awards for “Nothin On you”. With the Grammys just a month away, I’m rooting for B.O.B to take some home. I personally find him to be one of the freshest and innovative rappers to have come out of 2010 and I’m looking forward to what he has in store for the future.
-Hip Hop
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